Beth and Michelle launch their first annual Supertobertacular, an October progression of increasingly (but not excessively) scary movies, with the 2014 horror comedy Cooties. A contaminated chicken nugget transforms the students of Fort Chicken Elementary into feral zombies, leaving a dysfunctional collection of teachers trapped inside the school and repeatedly outsmarted by children whose brains are literally decomposing.

Clint arrives as a failed novelist pretending he is not really a teacher, only to become caught between his former crush Lucy and her aggressively confident boyfriend, Wade. Their rivalry gradually gives way to honesty as Wade admits his jealousy, Clint confesses his failures, and Lucy refuses to let either man decide what she wants. Meanwhile, the socially unusual but highly intelligent Doug becomes the group’s unlikely scientific authority.

Cooties passes the Castellini Test, with Lucy and Rebecca participating in conversations and decisions beyond romance. It also offers a more diverse cast than many larger horror films without turning representation into the joke. Bloody, ridiculous, and surprisingly well constructed, it is an ideal opening to Supertobertacular: scary enough for October, funny enough for nervous viewers, and considerably less nauseating once the maggot-filled nuggets are behind you.

Please check out our friend, Pat Greens new book, mentioned in the episode, Hearts of Glass: Living in the Real World. You can find all of his links here